It's changed over the course of my lifetime, as the dominant theology of our culture has transitioned. The argument between the modernists and the fundamentalists has been settled, with the winner being...neither of them. American theology is now prosperity theology, the name-it-and-claim-it faith of tee vee Jesus preachers. It's our semi-official state religion, as this administration has surrounded itself with the priesthood of Mammon, who know a good grift when they see one.
The heart of the prosperity gospel is remarkably simple: Do what God asks, and you will be rewarded. Plant a seed, and God will meet your need. This means, in practice, that you're giving money to the aforementioned tee vee preachers, whose wealth and success clearly indicates the correctness of this theology. How could my pastor possibly have a jet, if God did not favor my pastor? Why would pastor have a 25,000 square foot mansion with its own international airport, if God did not favor pastor?
Yeah. I know. But that's the schtick.
I've never bought in to that transactional approach to faith, not at all. God's grace is poured out to us whether we merit it or not. It's completely unrelated to how much treasure we dump into our particular franchise of AmeriChrist, Inc. I also don't for a moment buy that wealth, material success and righteousness are linked. The wicked can do quite well for themselves financially, and as a follower of Jesus, I know that suffering can come to the righteous. It's that whole "cross" thing.
Still, I can't ignore that there is a consistency and mechanistic predictability to prosperity preaching that appeals to millions. We want to know that our actions and intentions create blessings in our lives. We want to know that we can do things that will influence how God treats with us, and that we'll be rewarded for doing what is expected of us. You always know where you stand with that God.
But there's a thing that I can't quite fathom, and it has to do with the logical extension of Prosperity theology. If doing right by God with our lives and our treasure guarantees blessings and wealth and well-being, then the inverse should also be true. If we are doing wrong by God, then we will be materially cursed. If we are pouring our treasure and our energies into things that are an offense to our Maker, then...if the idea of prosperity preaching is true...we should expect to receive the dark reward of our blighted choices.
People or nations that plant poisonous seeds should expect a harvest of poison fruit.
Which gets us to the strange paradox of America right now. Prosperity preachers are all in with our current national direction. Their theology defines our national life. Donald J. Trump is the Prosperity Gospel President.
I've never bought in to that transactional approach to faith, not at all. God's grace is poured out to us whether we merit it or not. It's completely unrelated to how much treasure we dump into our particular franchise of AmeriChrist, Inc. I also don't for a moment buy that wealth, material success and righteousness are linked. The wicked can do quite well for themselves financially, and as a follower of Jesus, I know that suffering can come to the righteous. It's that whole "cross" thing.
Still, I can't ignore that there is a consistency and mechanistic predictability to prosperity preaching that appeals to millions. We want to know that our actions and intentions create blessings in our lives. We want to know that we can do things that will influence how God treats with us, and that we'll be rewarded for doing what is expected of us. You always know where you stand with that God.
But there's a thing that I can't quite fathom, and it has to do with the logical extension of Prosperity theology. If doing right by God with our lives and our treasure guarantees blessings and wealth and well-being, then the inverse should also be true. If we are doing wrong by God, then we will be materially cursed. If we are pouring our treasure and our energies into things that are an offense to our Maker, then...if the idea of prosperity preaching is true...we should expect to receive the dark reward of our blighted choices.
People or nations that plant poisonous seeds should expect a harvest of poison fruit.
Which gets us to the strange paradox of America right now. Prosperity preachers are all in with our current national direction. Their theology defines our national life. Donald J. Trump is the Prosperity Gospel President.
But...are we prospering? Is everything going swimmingly?
If you believe the theological reasoning of the preachers who now flutter around Trump's baleful light, there's a direct correlation between our choices and God's favor. And Sweet Lord Jesus, unless you're dumber than a bag of particularly dumb rocks, you can't miss where we are right now in terms of God's favor. No sane human being would say that we're in a time of God's blessing.
Things have gone to hell in a handbasket. We're in the thick of a pandemic that seems to have no end, and in which more Americans have died than in the First World War. We're economically crippled, with debt running wildly out of control. The rifts of division in our culture are widening, and old wounds are re-opening. The streets are filled with discord and tear gas. Armed militias prowl our streets and threaten other citizens. We've never been less respected by other nations, and never been more an object of pity to other nations. On top of that, there've been four years of freakishly intense weather. Historic floods. Wildfires obliterating entire communities. Devastating storms have left coastal communities staggered, and left entire cities in ruins in the heartland.
If you believe that God favors the righteous nation with blessings, then open your eyes and look.
God. Is. Not. Favoring. Trump's. America.
We're gettin' a taste of God's abundance right now, but what we Americans are getting is our butts abundantly kicked. Not by the "subversives" and "leftists" who have always been the straw men of right wing despots, but by reality itself.
By the standards of America's warped version of Christian faith, we have clearly offended God, and are reaping the whirlwind we have sown.
Is this my theology? No. It is not.
But it is the theology of a people who have confused lies, discord and failure with truth, harmony, and prosperity.
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